Perisc Stars As Inter Thump Fiorentina

Manchester United target Ivan Perisic proved why Jose Mourinho has been so keen to bring him to Old Trafford this summer with a goal and an assist in Inter Milan’s opening-day win.

Perisic and Mauro Icardi were central figures in Inter’s comfortable victory with the Argentine striker grabbing the other two goals.

Luciano Spalletti’s men got off to a dream start after being awarded a penalty just five minutes into the game. Icardi got up and dusted himself down after a clumsy challenge from Davide Astori, and calmly converted the spot kick.

Fiorentina couldn’t complain, Inter were easily winning the early exchanges and started to push forward at will.

Icardi, unsurprisingly, doubled the lead shortly after. Perisic delivered a pinpoint cross and the Argentine bullied the defenders to rise highest and guide the ball into the net past the sprawling Marco Sportiello.

The hosts continued to look dangerous going forward, with Perisic’s pace on the wing and Icardi gunning for his hat-trick, a third goal seemed only a matter of time.

Fiorentina were struggling creatively and were reduced to pumping the ball into the box from wide positions, which Miranda and Milan Škriniar comfortably dealt with.

There was a twist, though. Things took an interesting turn when the introduction of video replays to Serie A were called upon just before half-time. Giovani Simeone went down in the area after clashing with the Brazilian Miranda, but after consulting the new technology the original decision stood. No penalty.

Much to the despair of the Fiorentina fans. If they were going to drag themselves back into this game a penalty seemed their only hope, with that opportunity slipping through the cracks the game got away from them.

Inter began to dominate even more so than they had earlier and started to knock the ball around with a sense of arrogance.

Khouma Babacar’s driven effort did ask a question of Samir Handanovic, to which he duly responded, turning the ball around the post.

But with 10 minutes remaining on the clock the away side’s fate was sealed. It was Perisic who had the concluding word, latching on to Joao Mario’s cross and with a dive he headed past Sportiello.

It was a fitting end to a dominant and convincing performance from Spalletti’s Inter side.